Devices have been proposed for automatically feeding a supply of bottles or other containers seriatim in a circular path past a labeling station and for rotating each bottle about its axis as it moves past the labeling station where a label is applied to the bottle. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,721,544 and 4,416,714.
While such designs provide a generally satisfactory operation in specific applications, it would be desirable to provide an improved system which could be adapted for use with a variety of containers.
Further, it would be beneficial if such an improved system could accommodate relatively rapid rotation of each container in a relatively short circular arc travel path past the labeling station.
It would also be advantageous if the design for such an improved system could be assembled from mechanisms that can be easily manufactured and that would have improved reliability during operation.